


The Proposal

by Intelligent_Idiot



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: AU, F/M, Falling In Love, Love/Hate, The Proposal - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-21 23:40:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7409746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Intelligent_Idiot/pseuds/Intelligent_Idiot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Farkle Minkus is a high powered book editor, Riley Matthews is his sweet assistant. When faced with the possibility of deportation, Farkle lies about his engagement to Riley in order to stay in the country. However as sweet as she may look, Riley has some conditions of her own, including taking Farkle home to meet her family back in Philadelphia. While trying to convince everyone that they're madly in love, things happen that they didn't plan on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Proposal

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this idea was thought up by the tumblr user couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name and I thought it was adorable, so I went with it! The movie itself wasn’t the best, at least in my opinion, but the concept is cute and anything is better with Riarkle. 
> 
> Just sayin.
> 
> The first chapter is heavily influenced by the movie but it’ll start to branch off into its own thing soon enough while following the general plot. I hope you like it!
> 
> (Also, I try to make every character in the story an actual character from the show. I’ll make a list of them and what episodes they appear in at the end of each update.)

“I can’t believe I slept _in_!”

Riley Matthews was currently running around her small New York apartment, hair still tangled and cell phone pressed to her ear.

_“Riles, calm down. I’m sure your boss will be okay with you running a few minutes late.”_

“Not _my_ boss.” Riley almost slid on the tiled floor as she ran across it. She just _had_ to prefer extra fuzzy socks compared to regular ones, especially at a time like this. “I’ve told you how harsh he can be. One time he had a guy fired for using the wrong _font_ on his poster board during a presentation.”

Maya Hart, Riley’s best friend since childhood, whistled on the other end of the line. _“Geesh, sounds like a psycho. Why are you working for him again?”_

“ _Because_ ,” Riley quickly pulled on her skirt and dress shirt for the day. “If he likes me, he could possibly put in a good recommendation for me when I eventually climb to the top of the book marketing social ladder. Easy way in to be editor-in-chief one day.”

_“My my, who knew Riley Matthews could be so conniving?”_

“You’d be impressed with all the crap I let slide, especially from a sexist pig like Farkle Minkus.” Riley smirked as she applied her makeup. “Besides, getting an okay from him is like receiving an invitation to dine with the President at the White House. _Huge_ deal.”

_“Well as long as you don’t lose sight of your moral compass when you’re with him.”_

“Easy for _you_ to say, your boyfriend is the human embodiment of a moral compass!” Riley chuckled as she stepped into her heels. “It’d be impossible for you to lose sight of yours.”

 _“Yes, Lucas_ is _a gentleman.”_ The smile was evident in Maya’s tone. _“I’m just saying; don’t let this guy walk all over you.”_

“Sometimes you have to walk through a little bit of Hell to get to Heaven, Peaches. Now I gotta go, if I talk to you anymore I’ll _for sure_ get fired.”

_“Wait! You’re coming next week, right?”_

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’ll see you then!” With that Riley threw her phone into her purse and was out the door.

.

The streets of New York were packed with people as usual. Noises filled the air and interesting smells wafted in from alley ways and out of foreign restaurants, yet no one cared. And that was one of the things Farkle Minkus loved _most_ about the city.

Wherever you went; things kept going. If you were having a bad day, life went on and it didn’t care. At first it could be nerve wrecking, but for him it was normal. He was glad he’d been living there since he was a kid.

Farkle kept walking as he pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and dialed a recent number. “Hello, Aubrey? How’s my favorite writer?”

_“Mr. Minkus, I’m glad you called. I’ve been thinking about our talk and-”_

“Of course you’ve been thinking about our talk because you know I’m _right_. Aubrey, people in this country are busy, broke and they hate to read. They need someone they can trust to say “Hey, don’t watch _The Walking Dead_ tonight. Read a book!” They need to read _your_ book.”

_“I want them to, I mean-”_

“How better to do that than promoting it on _The Today Show_ , huh? The truth is that all A-plus novelists do publicity.”

_“It’s just that I haven’t done an interview in so long but…if you think it’s what I should do, then I’ll do it.”_

“You will? Fantastic. You won’t regret this Miss Macavoy. And you can trust me, because I _know_ business.” He ended the call and continued on his way to work, his signature cocky smirk plastered on his face.

A few blocks down the street, Riley was rushing into a StarBucks and straight toward the front counter where a good looking man stood. He flashed her a smile and handed her two to-go coffees. “Riley, just in time to get your regular order.”

“Evan, you are a _life saver_.” Riley sighed as she caught her breath. “Seriously, I owe you my first born because of this.”

Evan chuckled. “Instead of that maybe we could-”

“I’m sorry, I really have to go. But thanks!” In a second she was off running again, this time clutching onto coffee cups for dear life.

Somehow she managed to dodge everyone on the street and was only a small distance away from her office building when suddenly she ran into a morning jogger and spilled one of the cups all over the sidewalk.

The same cup intended for Mr. Minkus.

“No!” Riley shouted as she watched the black liquid travel toward the street. She heard the jogger mutter a quick apology before running away but didn’t care enough to acknowledge him. Instead she looked _her_ perfectly fine coffee and sighed. “Looks like I’m gonna have to run on pure adrenaline today.”

She glanced once more at the fallen drink before hurrying toward a towering building with a sign that read, “MINKUS INTERNATIONAL: MINKUS PUBLISHING BRANCH” on the front of it. Just as she was about to go in, however, she caught sight of Farkle himself walking from the other direction. Knowing his disdain for tardiness, she ducked in through the front revolving doors and slipped into an elevator right before it closed.

Seriously, if this whole editor thing didn’t work out, she could be a ninja _easily_.

As the elevator stopped on the twenty first floor, Riley hurried out of it and toward Farkle’s office. She smiled as she reached it just when he emerged from the second elevator, mentally high fiving herself for her stealth.

Farkle walked through the busy office and it was as if the devil himself had appeared. Anyone who hadn’t been working suddenly was; phones were picked up for pretend calls with potential clients, flirting co-workers suddenly had nothing to do with each other and everyone was hidden away in their respective cubicles.

Farkle Minkus was many things, but Riley couldn’t deny that she admired his ability to stop a room with his mere appearance. She wished she had that effect on people.

He passed her where she stood at the doorway of his office. “Morning boss! Beautiful day, isn’t it?”

He didn’t say a word, just took off his jacket and threw it over his desk chair.

Riley’s smile faltered but she decided to shake it off and closed the door. “Right. So you have a conference call in twenty minutes and a staff meeting at nine-”

“Yes, about the marketing of the spring books. I’m aware.” Farkle sounded bored. “Did you call…shit, what’s her name? Short, homely, has a unibrow? I want to say Sharon.”

“ _Karen_.” Riley corrected. “I did, and I told her that if she doesn’t get her manuscript in on time then you won’t give her a release date.”

He nodded. “Excellent.”

She hesitated before saying, “…um, your immigration lawyer called? He said it’s _imperative_ that-”

“Cancel the call, push the meeting to tomorrow and keep the lawyer on the sheets. Oh and get a hold of PR and have them start drafting a press release. I booked Aubrey Macavoy for _The Today Show_.”

Riley smiled. “Nicely done.”

“If I wanted your praise, I would have asked for it.” Farkle sighed as he sat down and took a sip of his coffee, which had been sitting on top of his desk. Yet when he held it up, he noticed that there was writing on it. “Riley.”

“Hmmm?” She finished out the note she’d been writing before looking up at him.

He turned the cup so that the writing was pointed at her. “Who’s Evan?”

“Excuse me?”

Farkle pointed to his cup which read, _“Anytime you actually want to sit down and drink your coffee, call me at (212) 555-0132. Evan.”_

“And why does he want me to call him?”

Riley felt her throat go dry. “Because, uh…” Her face was suddenly hot and her palms were clammy. Might as well be honest though. Like Maya said; don’t lose sight of her moral compass. “Well because that was originally _my_ cup. Yours kinda spilled.”

“So you like to drink unsweetened, straight black coffee, do you?” Farkle asked with a raise of his dark eyebrows. “Is it a coincidence we both like the same order?”

“It is, actually!” Riley laughed, a little too loudly. “Because obviously I wouldn’t get the exact same coffee as you every morning on the off chance that yours could spill and I could switch them without you knowing the difference! That’d be pathetic!”

“Yes, it would be.” Farkle deadpanned.

Riley cleared her dry throat and looked to the floor.

“You can go now.”

“Right, I’ll just…do that.” With that Riley was out the door, leaving a disinterested looking Farkle behind her.

.

Two hours later, Riley was sitting in the breakroom when Farkle walked in. “Riley, come with me.”

She looked up at him, startled. “Look, if this is about the coffee-”

“It’s not. Come on.” He gestured with his head toward the door and turned to leave without checking if she was following, which she always was.

As they walked, she remembered something. “Have you read the manuscript I gave you?”

“Some of it, but to be honest I wasn’t that impressed.”

She nodded and kept silent until she couldn’t anymore. “…can I say something?”

“No.”

Normally she would have shut up, but she didn’t want to. “I mean, I’ve read thousands of manuscripts. Yet this is the only one I’ve ever given you. Why? Because there’s an incredible novel in there. The kind of novel you used to publish.”

Farkle let out a breath as if he were exasperated. “Wrong, and by the way I _do_ think you order the same coffee as I do which is, in fact, pathetic.”

“Or impressive?” She asked with a hopeful smile.

“It’d be impressive if you didn’t spill it in the first place. Now,” He stopped abruptly, causing her to as well. “Don’t speak, just listen. You’re a prop while we’re in here, got it?”

She looked at the office where they stopped and furrowed her brow. “And why are we at Bill’s office right now?”

He gave her a look, and she suddenly felt sorry for the man they were about to disturb.

They walked in together, where a middle aged man sat typing away at a computer. He looked up and forced a smile. “Mr. Minkus! The bossman himself, come on in.”

“Hello Bill.” Farkle said as Riley closed the door. He held an air of superiority around him that made most men want to punch him right in his pretty face. As for women, they just wanted to marry him. “Look, I won’t belittle you with small talk so I’ll get right to the point. I’m letting you go.”

Bill’s smile fell immediately. “Excuse me?”

 “I asked you a dozen times to get Aubrey to make a public announcement of her book and you didn’t. So you’re fired.” Farkle shrugged nonchalantly.

“And I’ve told _you_ a dozen times that it’s impossible. Aubrey hasn’t done an interview in over twenty years.”

Farkle pretended to look thoughtful. “Well that’s interesting because I just got off the phone with her and she’s doing it.” When Bill looked surprised, Farkle rolled his blue eyes. “You didn’t even _call_ her, did you?”

“…but-”

“Here’s what I’m gonna do.” Farkle said as he stepped closer to Bill’s desk. “I’ll give you, let’s say…a _month_ to find new employment elsewhere, and then you can tell everyone you resigned. Okay?” When the former employee didn’t say anything, Farkle smiled arrogantly. “You have a good day now.”

He turned and motioned for Riley to leave before him. As soon as they were out in the hall he walked in front of her but only by a few paces.

“How’s he looking?”

Riley played it cool as she glanced back into Bill’s office window. “He’s pacing, and he’s got crazy eyes.”

Farkle smirked in amusement. “Don’t do it, Bill. You’re better than this-”

Just as they made it to the end of the hallway, Bill came barreling out and pointed an accusing finger at Farkle’s back. “You inconsiderate _jackass_!”

Everyone in the office looked up as Farkle and Riley turned around.

“You can’t fire me! You don’t think I see what you’re doing? _Sandbagging_ me with this Aubrey Macavoy thing so that you can look good to the board? Face it, you’re threatened by me!”

“Bill, stop.” Yet Farkle looked nothing other than entertained.

“Just because you don’t have a life outside of this office doesn’t mean you can treat me and the rest of us like trash! Like your own personal servants!” Bill was fuming. “You know what? I feel sorry for you! Because when we’re all old and gray with our families, you’ll be alone. Sure you’ll live comfortably with the money you make now, but you won’t have anyone there by your side. I _pity_ you, Farkle.”

Riley’s mouth was practically hanging open. Never had anyone had the courage to call Farkle Minkus out like this. The words he said were harsh, true, but were they necessarily _wrong_?

Meanwhile Farkle simply stepped forward with his hands in his pockets, not looking the least bit offended. “Listen carefully, Bill. I didn’t fire you because I feel threatened by you. I fired you because you’re lazy, entitled, incompetent and you spend more time cheating on your wife rather than doing actual work.”

Bill looked affronted but Farkle didn’t seem to care. “And if you say another word, Riley here will call security and have you thrown out onto the curb. Is that what you want?”

Everybody could tell that Bill wanted to say something, but he didn’t. He’d already lost his dignity, no need adding an arrest on top of it all.

Farkle smirked at his sudden loss of voice. “Didn’t think so. Now I have work to do.” He gave him a once over and gestured to his office door. “I suggest you start packing.”

He walked away as everybody around them stared at the newly fired Bill. Riley was about to walk too when she decided to be helpful by saying, “Boxes are in the breakroom…if you were wondering.” She then turned and followed after her boss.

“That was something.” She commented as soon as she caught up with Farkle.

“You wanna make it in business? Sometimes you have to play the role of _inconsiderate jackass_.” He said back. “I need you around this weekend to review his files and manuscript.”

Riley nodded before her eyes went wide. “ _This_ weekend?”

Farkle looked at her expectantly. “Is there a problem?”

“No, I…well I have a birthday to celebrate next week so I was going to fly over to Philadelphia this weekend. Actually it’s not _my_ birthday, it’s an old family friend. Funny story; he used to be my parents’ teacher along with my uncles Shawn and Eric and he’s turning ninety so I was going to go to that-”

“So you can cancel then.” Farkle said, interrupting her. “Perfect.” He walked away, leaving her stranded.

“Right, of course. I’ll…cancel.”

.

Riley held her forehead in her hand as she spoke to her mom on the phone.

_“You’re not coming?”_

“I know, I’m sorry. And tell Mr. Feeny I’m sorry too. But what do you want me to tell you? He’s making me work the weekend, meaning there’s no way I can take off next week.” She sighed in remorse.

 _“You could always quit?”_ Topanga Matthews said from the other line. _“Honey, you’ve told us on numerous occasions how much you hate working there. And from what we’ve heard; your boss sounds like a real-”_

“The pay is good, okay?” Riley said just to cut her off. “And I need this job. I’ve worked too hard for a promotion to quit now.”

_“Riley, your father is going to be so upset.”_

“I know, tell him I’m sorry as well. Look, I have to go. I have another call coming in. I’ll talk to you later.” Riley slammed the phone down and took a breath. Her least favorite thing was disappointing people, and she just did with her own mother.

Yeah, today was going _great_.

Remembering that she had another call, Riley picked the phone back up and pressed the second button on the receiver. “Hello? …yes, I’ll tell him right away…yes, goodbye.”

Just then Farkle walked in, reading a leather bound binder and sipping his second coffee of the day. Riley looked at it and envied him because she hadn’t had even _one_ yet.

“Mr. Norton just called. He wants you in his office.”

Farkle looked up at her. “Did he say why?”

“Only that it was urgent.” Riley shrugged.

He sighed and closed the binder with a _snap_. “Alright, hold my calls until I get back.”

By then Riley had turned to her computer, so she simply held a thumbs up and said, “Roger.” And if she’d been looking, she would’ve seen an _almost_ smile on Farkle’s face as he turned to leave.

.

Farkle walked into his boss’s office with the same air of superiority as before. He seemed to carry it around with him everywhere he went. It didn’t help that his family owned the company and the rest of ‘Minkus International’ and were _billionaires_. “Mr. Norton, good afternoon.”

The greying man looked up from the files on his desk and greeted the younger with a smile. “Farkle, congratulations on booking _The Today Show_. That’s terrific news.”

Farkle smiled and nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

A beat of silence passed between them which then grew to be awkward. Farkle cleared his throat and asked, “So, what can I do for you?”

“I just got off the phone with your immigration attorney and he told me something interesting.”

The words _immigration_ and _attorney_ made the room slightly tense, so Farkle tried to joke his way through it. “This isn’t a ploy to throw me off of getting my second raise, is it?”

Mr. Norton laughed heartily. “No, no it’s actually more serious than that.” The laughter died down and his face went grim. “You see…your visa application has been denied. And you’re being deported.”

Farkle froze.

“ _Deported_?”

“And apparently there was also some paperwork you didn’t fill out in time?” Mr. Norton looked down at the files he’d been examining before the young Minkus walked in.

Meanwhile Farkle ran a hand through his hair. “This is ridiculous, I’m practically a U.S. citizen! I mean, yeah, _technically_ I was born in Canada but both my parents were raised here in the United States! Isn’t there something we can do?”

“We can reapply, but unfortunately you have to leave the country for at least a year.”

“A _year_?”

Mr. Norton sighed. “I’m afraid so.”

Farkle began to pace before he started nodding to himself. “…okay. Okay, I can work with that. I mean, there’s videoconferencing and email…I can easily manage everything from Ontario-”

“Farkle, if you’re deported then you can’t work for an American company. Didn’t you read the company guidelines?”

Farkle gave his boss an incredulous look. “Come on, who actually _reads_ that? Right?”

“Look, until this gets resolved I have no choice but to turn operations over to Bill.”

“Bill? The jerk I _fired_ this morning?” Farkle nearly shouted.

Mr. Norton shrugged. “We need an editor-in-chief and he’s the only person in the entire building who has enough experience.”

“You can’t be serious-”

“Believe me, we are _desperate_ to have you stay.” The old man assured him. “If there was _any_ way out then we’d take it but unfortunately-”

“Does my dad know about this?”

Mr. Norton hesitated before shaking his head. “There’s nothing he can do either.”

Farkle felt like screaming when Riley came in, looking frazzled. “Um, excuse me?”

“Miss Matthews, we’re in a meeting.” Mr. Norton said sternly.

“I know, I’m sorry it’s just-”

Farkle gave her a slightly venomous look. “What are you doing in here?”

“Missy, from _The Today Show_ called. She’s on the line. She needs to speak with you right away but I told her you were otherwise engaged. She insisted so…I’m sorry, is this a _really_ bad time?” Riley looked completely flustered and out of place.

That’s when Farkle had an idea.

He looked at Riley for a few seconds before motioning for her to come in. She looked at him, confused, but he cocked his head jerkily and she sighed before hurrying in quickly.

“Mr. Norton, I’m so sorry for the inconvenience but it turns out that it’s completely unwarranted.” Farkle began, looking at Riley closely. Mr. Norton furrowed his brow, meanwhile Riley was totally lost.

“How so, Farkle?”

“Well, because while my visa was being denied I actually made a decision of the heart. A decision that coincidentally ties in with my lack of citizenship status.”

Mr. Norton looked lost too. “I don’t follow.”

Farkle looked at Riley a second more before turning a bright smile toward his boss, at the same time wrapping an arm around a surprised Riley’s waist and pulling her to him so that she was pressed to his side.

“You see, Riley and I…well, we’re getting married.”

**Author's Note:**

> Evan – Girl Meets Ski Lodge Part 1 & 2  
> Mr. Norton – Girl Meets STEM, Girl Meets Legacy  
> Bill – Girl Meets Flaws  
> Missy – Girl Meets Sneak Attack  
> Aubrey Macavoy - Girl Meets Demolition


End file.
